This invention relates to a rescue method and apparatus for rescuing occupants from high structures such as high rise buildings, which is highly reliable, always ready to be used, with no preparation, which can rescue many people within a short time, for example, at a time of a fire, and which requires no power supply.
The problem of rescuing trapped people from high rise buildings at the time of a fire, explosion, etc., is well-known and has been reemphasized tragically by the events of Sep. 11, 2001. Most of the known rescue systems, such as emergency stairs or fire fighter ladders, cannot be used in the event of major fires, because the flights of emergency stairwells will catch fire first, and fire fighter ladders are not high enough and cannot cross the fire zone.
Various systems are known for rescuing occupants from high-rise buildings. One such system, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,198,880, utilizes a fan mechanism to which a cable is connected. However, this system requires rewinding of the cable after each escape. This is time consuming and impractical when being used for evacuating a large number of people from a high-rise building.
Another system using a fan is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,196. This system dispenses the cable only once, and has no provisions for renewing the cable.
Another single-use device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,496. This system is relatively complex and does not provide for multiple use and therefore cannot rescue many people from a high-rise building within a short period of time.
An object of the present invention is to provide a reliable, simple to operate, rescue system that will save many people""s lives at the time of major fires or other disasters.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a rescue system which can rescue a large number of people from high structures such as a high-rise building in a relatively short period of time.
Still another object of the invention is to provide such a rescue system having replaceable cable cartridges which are relatively inexpensive and which can be quickly changed after a person has been rescued, at a high repetition rate.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a rescue system which will enable crossing of a fire zone, especially in high-rise buildings.
Still another object of the invention is to provide such a rescue system which takes up little space, and which is economical to manufacture, install and maintain.
A rescue system according to the present invention comprises a frame which is preferably connected to the floor or other structure of a building or other high structure, near an escape portion of the building or other high structure, which escape portion is open or can be easily opened or broken at the time of a fire or other emergency situation that requires evacuation of occupants from the structure; and a fan having a shaft and at least two vanes connected to the shaft. The shaft is rotatably connected to the frame so that fan rotates freely relative to the frame. The shaft coupled to the fan has a connecting portion which removably and non-rotationally connects to a replaceable cable cartridge. The cable cartridge comprises a spool with a coupling portion which mates with the connecting portion of the shaft so as to removably engage the shaft and rotate together with the shaft. That is, the shaft and the spool are interconnected with each other so that they are non-rotatable relative to each other and so that the spool is easily removable after use. A rolled cable (preferably a steel cable of about 3 mm diameter and having a length of at least the height of the building) is wound on the spool which is removably engagable with the connecting portion of the shaft. A rescue belt or harness (such as used in rock climbing, parachuting or the like, for example) is removably connected to the free end of the rolled cable.
At the time of a fire or other emergency, the persons to be rescued wear the rescue belt or harness, a first cable cartridge is engaged on the connecting portion of the shaft and the free end of the cable is hooked or otherwise engaged with the rescue belt or harness. The first person jumps or slides out from the escape portion of the structure, and the falling person causes the fan to rotate (via the spool and shaft). The falling speed of the person is limited by the resistance of the rotating fan. The maximum falling speed can be limited to, for example, about 8 m/sec. (which is about equal to the free falling speed from a height of about 3.2 meters). Higher or lower falling speeds can be achieved and used by, for example, appropriately adjusting the fan blades, the size and number of the fan blades and the diameter of the spool of the cable cartridge.
When the first rescued person reaches the ground, the cable becomes loose and the spent cable cartridge can be removed from the shaft (by pulling same up, for example) and the spent spool can be replaced by a new one. The second person""s rescue belt or harness is hooked to the free end of the cable of the new cable cartridge and he/she jumps or slides out from the escape portion of the structure. This process is repeated until the last person is rescued.
The fan (dynamic resistance device) can be replaced by other dynamic resistance devices, and/or a transmission can couple the rotation of the spool of the cable cartridge thereto.